I never understood Gamestop's pricing scheme for used games. I've also come across games with different price tags on them, even right next to one another. As I'm standing there, I usually realize that 1) the used game is a mere $3-5 less than the new game, 2) the new game is still above the industry standard price for the game, and 3) Newegg has ridiculously good prices on games.

I know I am going to get lambasted for this but why on earth do people not check these things while at the register? It is alot easier to correct the price before you pay than deal with the hassle of a price adjustment/credit after the fact.

I've seen this too, where I'd be at gamestop and see two of the exact same boxes for a used game with two different prices. Of course, I grab the cheaper of the two.

Just a thought, in some cases the price of a used game does go up...but I doubt that was the case here if both price tags are exposed (typically they'd stick the newest price tag over the older one).

@AlteredBeast: As far as I know, the price difference is due to the condition of the game disc and the manual. One may not be in as good of condition as the other.

According to my local Gamestop, when they have a sale/promotion on an item, they don't just mark it down at the register, they put a sticker with the lower price on it. At my local Gamestop they also suck at removing the sale stickers. My brother in law was about to jump on a Wii Guitar Hero guitar set that was marked for like 59.99 before we saw a second of the same thing priced at 89.99. In other words, Gamestop needs to go back to Training 101 and teach their employees how to remove sale stickers before putting on new ones (or forgetting to put on new ones altogether).

In terms of retail in general, if there's 2 stickers on something, I would always assume it's going to cost the higher of the two unless the cash register says differently. If the second sticker is on there, that's the justification to have rung it up as such, fair or not.

@Adrienne Willis: I can understand if this happened if he was buying other items then just this game. Happens to me all the time when I am at the grocery store, and they are ringing me up as I'm unloading my cart. Can't pay attention to the price and unload the cart at the same time.

However, if this was the only thing he was buying...then I have no clue how he could have missed the fact that the price was 25% more then what he should have been charged.

@supercereal:

Gamestop sells video games at MSRP. Most B&M stores sell games at or near MSRP, because the markup on games is pretty low.

I would like to think of myself as a problem solver so why does he not just return the game for a full refund?

That must be a poorly run Gamestop. The last one I worked at, My manager and everyone who worked MOD there was excellent about honoring the lowered price AS REQUIRED BY LAW.

We once had to eat a $30 loss on a game that had a 29.99 sticker on it when it should have been marked at 59.99.

There's only one reason Gamestop might have not done it in this case: The two stickers on the case were for different games: For example a game case for FEAR, showing a Fear xb360 price sticker at 19.99 while the other sticker shows Mass Effect xb360 14.99. Obviously FEAR is not Mass Effect and I do know some Gamestops are either reluctant or flat out refuse to honor a price discrepancy like this.

Having said that, there's absolutely no reason the Gamestop in question should have been so stupid about not giving you the $5. That "not being able to credit" is BS. They can void out the sale and re-ring it through at the lower price or even refund the first purchase and ring through another.

I believe that this is illegal.

@dveight: according to his receipt that was the only game purchased.

As far as groceries are concerned I ask the cashier to wait until I have all my items up on the counter before scanning (just did this last night as well).

I don't get the triviality of fighting over a $5 pricing error because even if the retailer saves the loss they lose a customer. On the other hand if they honor the lower price they gain a customer's loyalty, and their establishment will most likely be the first stop when making future purchases.

The saddest thing is Gamestop probably go the game for $5 in trade (maybe even towards a used game), so in the end their margins are essentially unaffected.

@rondalescott: Seems like the sort of thing that can certainly vary from state to state. Not that I have any real knowledge on the subject, though.

@dveight: You are incorrect dveight. The used priced goes for the used mint copy as well as the copy the dog tried to eat.

I imagine that the clerk is going by the price that rings up on the computer. Seriously, how easy is it to peel the lower priced sticker off of another product and stick it on the higher priced one?

I'm not saying that this person did it - or that it wasn't a mistake on Gamestop's part - but it shouldn't be an automatic jumping down Gamestop's throat for this policy.

I had the same thing happen to me at game crazy. Crackdown for the Xbox 360 was marked at $9.99 and under that and little to the side was $12.99. I took it up the cashier who said that the $9.99 was a sale price that ended and that he couldn't give me the $9.99 price, even though it was clearly marked as such.

It was a great game that was still incredibly cheap, but it stuck with me and annoyed me to no end.

@dveight: That came out sounding quite condecending. I only meant that the price is not different for original case/instructions included/condition. The price is the same for the best copy and the worst copy.

Matt made one attempt to resolve the issue with the merchant. Trying to remove the lower price sticker is dammning evidence. Matt should contact his credit card company and initiate a charge back.

The legality of this depends entirely on state law. It may be illegal, but it may not be. Like was suggested by Chris, the best thing to do is simply contact the state AG and file a complaint. If they determine it's illegal, they may take action if they deem it appropriate.

@dragonfire81: When you were at GameStop, did you ever get the used game shipments pre-priced? That occasionally happened to us (I was at a store in Manhattan, 2005-2006), and sometimes they'd come in with different price stickers than we already had on one that was in the store (so let's say, Tuesday night I took a trade-in and the resale value of Game A was $19.99, then Wednesday morning a box came in from corporate with a copy of Game A priced at $17.99).

Definitely no reason the store can't do the adjustment / credit, though.

Granted $5 is not a big deal and they should have done something for you. It appears you paid by card and chose to hit yes to pay $21.39 instead of $16.04. Pay attention! When a card terminal asks "is $21.39 ok?" You push no and tell the clerk about the other price.

@Adrienne Willis: I'm sure the OP is embarrassed, and it's a dumb thing to overlook, but come on, we all learn sometimes, usually through our mistakes.

@winshape: I agree with your outlook. How do we know that the second sticker wasn't stuck on by some customer browsing the store? Not saying the OP did it but someone else might.

@edrebber: Or he could return the game..... He's still in his return period.

used to work at gamestop - to matt and anyone else who has or may run into this type of situation. the associate(s) who sold the game to matt and would not honor the price were wrong, even by gamestop standards. if matt calls the dm or left a message and gets a call back, i'm sure that the wrong employee and his manager will receive a corrective action, or if is not the first similar offense, will be terminated. really want to get them mad - take it up the regional or divisional level. this all has to do with their LP, inventory marketing PRICE CHANGE system and the way it is implemented and managed. it also has to do with poor training, or at least execution of training in dealing with these situations after it leaves the HR office. there is a handbook as all corporate companies have, but don't expect that anyone besides the store manager and maybe the assistant has even glanced at it. and dont get me started on used/gutted sold as new?? thats a whole different topic

in any event they were wrong, you were right matt (of course) after all this aggravation i'd ask for a full refund in store credit towards a reservation to make them happy AND the ability to keep the game - take it past district level and you might see changes in the gamestops in your area within the next year

Here's how to solve this quickly and easily:

1) Do sales tags have expiration tags on them? If the lower price was no expired then you should get the lower price.
2) Do the tags have dates on them? If yes then it's reasonable to go by the newer tag. If the newer tag is the more expensive tag then you should pay the higher price.

Done.

@winshape: The price that rings up depends entirely on the sticker (which has a barcode on it). It's a used game, you can't just scan the original UPC.

[entertheoctopus.wordpress.com]

The guy talked to the DM, who offered either a refund (which he should've just done in the first place) or store credit.

@Etoiles: Yes we got those all the time. I tried to make sure to check all prices before I put the cases on the floor, but every now and then I missed one.

I was never an ass about adjusting though.

@takes_so_little:
Complaining on Consumerist isn't evidence that he learned anything, it's pandering to the mob for pity.

@outinthedark: This is correct. A pristine copy of Resident Evil 5 will net you $30, but you will also get $30 if you present the store with just the game disc and it has a few scratches on it.

Many of Gamestop's used prices are $5 less than new ($59.99 vs $54.99), if you question this employees will often tell you that "well, it would be $10 off if you had our discount card"

I've never full understood why such a ginormous markup is needed (if you are taking the game in for $30, you can sell it at $45 and still make a health profit) but the company is making money so they must know what they are doing.

If you read his blog, it appears that he updated yesterday that he did resolve the problem with the district manager and get his money back.

@rondalescott:
Not illegal at all.
If it were anyone could buy something, walkout slap on a lowerprice sticker and claim shenanigans.

@supercereal:

When I worked for a video store these price differences occasionally happened because of our protocol for pricing used DVDs. We went to our distributor's website and searched for the film title and charged OUR approximate cost for a new DVD (for example, if Steel Magnolias cost us $6.47 to buy brand new, we would charge $7 for a used copy).

Sometimes our distributor prices would change, so if we got the same title a month later, the price might be different (the SKUs for our used inventory were generic and only reflected price, so there was no "quick" way to check what price current inventory of said movie was). We would go out on the floor occasionally and search for this discrepancy, but we occasionally would miss a few (and obviously charge the lower price).

IMO, the cashier did the best thing she could have.
He left the store happy with the price he paid.
There's no way to determine if the sticker was there when he bought it, or if he himself slapped it on after walking outside of the store and beyond the view of it's all-seeing cameras.

@Allie Trevillian: If it's got a lower sitcker on it, AFAIK the law states you have to charge the lower.

I know several of my employees fail at price changes (fail to check the spine, or find other copies that may be in a promo shelf, or what not), and I've had to mark it down.

You should forward that to the FTC and see what they say.

@Coop: Agreed, this dude should have paid more attention, and hell, I find it hard to sway to his side in the first place since he was shopping at GameStop at all! I really hate getting used games there, not only are they overpriced for condition, but those damn price tags will NOT come off easy, and they plaster 'em all over the damn games, sometimes on the paper inserts, which destroys the paper. But I'm a snob when it comes to media condition.

@dragonfire81:

Something like that happened to me before, where there were two stickers on the game box, and I didn't look very closely as to what the stickers said. One was like 14.99 and the other was 19.99, so I figured I was getting $5 off on this sale. Took it to the register and the girl that works there noticed it and pointed it out, then removed the $14.99 sticker. I was like huh? what's happening? but she said she would go down the middle on it (i.e. give me $2.50 off) because it was a confusing mistake on their part. That particular store is very on the up and up and have always had my back on any issue too. Very professional at that location.

@Coop: Most consumer laws are set at the state level. Some mandate honoring the lowest cost; some prohibit putting price stickers on top of a lower price.

@outinthedark: That is true, if the game works, it works, the booklet and case are just considered a bonus. If you were to buy a used game that is disc only, you'd be charged the same price. Not defending the practice, just saying thats how Gamestop does it.

Back when N64 games were being made, a local Gamestop would sell the games that didn't have a box or booklet for just $5. I got Smash Bros, the Zelda games, everything (over time) for just $5 each! So since then they implemented this flat price per game thing.

@Coop: That's possible, but you're reading into it a little. So am I, for that matter, guess I'm more 'glass half full.'

That being said, do you think it was OK for GS to deny him the $5? I do not, despite his obvious oversight.

@dragonfire81: GameStop takes a bath on sports games and any title that has hype it fails to meet. Buying low and selling high helps cover those losses, according to them.

@Coop:
In Wisconsin it is illegal, and at least at the store i work for, we have the State statute posted at each register.

I worked at a store that had a company policy (before bar codes) that the lowest price marked on the merchandise or on the shelf was the price we had to ring up. We were told this was a matter of law. Is that still the case?

@Coop:

That's fraud, but more importantly, NO statute would require a refund AFTER payment (except under warranty).

The statutes explain the adjustment must be made at the register at the time of purchase.

This guy needed to stick to his guns. At this point, waiting until after the sale, he's too late as far as law is concerned.

Yet another reason not to ever visit GameStop/EB!

@Coop: I can imagine how this happened, if you look at the picture and I know from experience Gamestop puts prices on the spine as well as the upper right. If the game was laying against its back unless you specifically look for it you wouldn't notice the prices are different.

@Coop: It is illegal in California.

I worked at GameStop and this happened more frequently than you might think. Every morning the opening manager is supposed to do the day's price changes. Say the price was dropped to 14.99 one day, then (usually a week later or so), the price changes come in and it's raised back up to 19.99. The manager will reprice the product. It prints out 1 sticker for every copy you have in inventory. The problem is they will change the face sticker but not the spine sticker. I always just removed the cheaper spine sticker altogether and just kept the updated face sticker. If the manager fails to do that then there will be 2 different prices on the item. It can be a problem. And the reason that they didn't want to do anything about it is that the store gets in trouble if it has to manually adjust a price. Word to the wise: GameStop *is* able to manually adjust prices, but they *will* tell you they cannot. They'll say they don't have that ability but they're lying. They can just get in trouble with their higher-ups if they have to do that because it means that they didn't do their job and update the prices like they were supposed to.